Pavese Festival
The Pavese Festival 2025 took place from 23 to 29 June in Santo Stefano Belbo, featuring a series of side events, both locally and across Italy. Its guiding theme – Mari proibiti e coste barbariche (forbidden seas and barbarous coasts) – recalled a sentence from the first chapter of Moby Dick, translated into Italian by Cesare Pavese in his early twenties. The journey, real and metaphorical, with its going beyond borders, the constant quest it implies and the drive towards the unknown thus was the focus of the many events of the program – shows, book presentations, talks, exhibitions, workshops for kids and grown-ups. The next edition of the festival will take place from 22 to 28 June 2026.
The Festival over the years
The Pavese Festival was launched in 2001 as a tribute to Cesare Pavese in his hometown. Mixing music, art, theatre and literature, our Festival invites prominent guests from the Italian literary and music scene to explore Pavese’s themes and works in Santo Stefano Belbo. Throughout the years, our Festival has turned into an event not just for Pavese’s enthusiasts but also for visitors of a unique vineyard landscape, acknowledged as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. The Festival offers in fact the chance to discover the Langhe region that played such a kay role in shaping the author’s poetics.
Among the big names of its 25 past editions Avion Travel, Claudio Baglioni, Mario Biondi, Andrea Bosca, Boosta, Ezio Bosso, Vinicio Capossela, Colapesce & Dimartino, Cristina Donà, Marcello Fois, Georgi Gospodinov, Jhumpa Lahiri, Fiorella Mannoia, Neri Marcorè, Laura Morante, Pacifico, Omar Pedrini, Michele Placido, Alessandro Preziosi, Isabella Ragonese, Enrico Rava, Paola Turci, just to mention a few.
Pavese Festival 2024 (ph. Eunice Brovida, Chiara Sacchetto, Gianluca Vigilante)
Pavese Festival 2023 (ph. Eunice Brovida, Fabjo Hazizaj, Andrea Icardi)
Pavese Festival 2022 (ph. Fabjo Hazizaj, Chiara Sacchetto)
Pavese Festival 2021 (ph. Eunice Brovida, Fabjo Hazizaj)
Pavese Festival 2020 (ph. Andrea Icardi)
Pavese Festival 2019 (ph. Claudio Marchini)
Pavese Festival 2018 (ph. Claudio Marchini)